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Bulletins

Beijing wants to build the next big-name blockchain companies

Beijing wants to build the next big-name blockchain companies
How cryptocurrency is part of the ransomware solution

The Chinese government plans to train blockchain's next generation of "famous figures, famous products, famous companies and famous industrial parks," an official at China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in a government-held forum on Monday, according to Chinese publication the Securities Times.

Despite announcing China's strictest-yet cryptocurrency ban last week, Beijing still hopes to power long-term growth using non-crypto blockchain applications. There are over 1,400 blockchain companies in China, said Wang Jianwei, deputy director of the MIIT's Information Technology Development Department. Most of the blockchain applications are concentrated in the finance sector, but it's worth exploring the combination of crypto and other sectors, including the manufacturing industry, Wang said.

Correction, Sept. 27, 2021: Wang Jianwei is deputy director of the MIIT's Information Technology Development Department, not MIT's Information Technology Development Department.

Zeyi Yang

Zeyi Yang is a former reporter with Protocol | China. Previously, he worked as a reporting fellow for the digital magazine Rest of World, covering the intersection of technology and culture in China and neighboring countries. He has also contributed to the South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia, Columbia Journalism Review, among other publications. In his spare time, Zeyi co-founded a Mandarin podcast that tells LGBTQ stories in China. He has been playing Pokemon for 14 years and has a weird favorite pick.

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Bulletins